The Nation Newspaper

Tag: diversion

  • DPR detects petrol diversion of 100, 000 litres

    DPR detects petrol diversion of 100, 000 litres

    The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) yesterday discovered that the  petrol stations on Kaduna Road, Gaoraka -Suleja in Niger State had diverted about 100, 000 liters the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) that they loaded from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depots on Tuesday.

    Leading an enforcement team on the Zuba -Kaduna expressway to  monitor the sale of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) , the Director of DPR , Mr. Mordecai Ladan stormed the Zen Hajad Limited (ZHL) Petrol station, he discovered that although the manifest showed that the company lifted 60,000 litres but it never delivered it to the station.

    The station looked deserted and the security guard revealed that no product had been delivered to that place in the last one month.

    Ladan was surprised about what he described as sabotage and diversion of the intervention product to cushion the fuel scarcity in the country.

    He said “From the manifest from the depot, the station yesterday (Tuesday) lifted about 60,000 litres of PMS as intervention for the crisis currently being faced. So as part of our monitoring activities we have come to confirm if the 60,000 liters were delivered but as you can see nothing of such.”

  • Reps query diversion of N1.5b by FCT management

    Reps query diversion of N1.5b by FCT management

    Federal Capital Territory (FCT) 2015/2016 budget presentation at the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ended unceremoniously over unsatisfactory disbursement of funds for some projects.

    The Committee has also declared to investigate the diversion of N1.5b meant for compensation and resettlement of indigenes affected by the Centenary village project.

    At the continuation of the FCT budget defense by the Herman Hembe-led Committee during the week, the lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction with the inability of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to justify the huge disbursement of funds to one of the contractors handling some projects for the FCT.

    The Committee was further infuriated by the failure of the FCTA to furnish it with documents earlier requested, including Bill of Quantity for the residences of the Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the United Nations (UN) building.

    The Committee was concerned that level of work on the various projects does not reflect the amount of money already sunk into them.

    Vice President residence contract was awarded at N7.1b out which N6.2b was already paid while the rehabilitation of UN building awarded at N5.1b had N3.9b already committed to it.

    Also, the lawmakers were at a loss over the residences of National Assembly presiding officers that have gulped N12b out of the N24b initial contract sum.

    While insisting that the figures given for the projects were outrageous, the Committee expressed dismay that despite collecting so much, the contractors could still abandon the projects.

    Committee’s Deputy Chairman, Serguis Ogun said it is imperative for all agencies of government to realise that it is no longer business as usual.

    “We are not rubber stamp that you can manipulate us the way you feel, the era of dolling out money for agencies without proper cross checking is over.”

    On the investigation of N1.5b meant for compensation and resettlement, the Committee said its decision was as a result of protest by the original occupants of Centenary village when it paid an oversight visit to some projects in the Federal Capital.

    The Committee further emphasised the need for an investigation due to complaints from the contractors handling the projects that progress was stunted as a result of resistance and protests by the indigenes over compensation, in addition to poor funding by the government.

    The contractors had told the Committee that the protests to the contractors by the affected people were not properly directed as they (contractors) have no issues with compensation.

    Bitrus Jiasalo, member representing Abuja Municpal Council/Bwari Federal Constituency of FCT, who expressed disappointment with the compensation matter, regretted that officials of FCDA were only paying lip service to the issue.

    “It is disheartening that the engineers of FCDA are all talking of settlement of villagers whereas nothing was paid to them and we cannot even see any plan for integration by the FCT administration as claimed.

    “I know that N1.5b was released by the Federal government for compensation of villagers in Centenary Village by the same FCDA yet no money was paid to the indigenes. We are going to investigate this matter,” Jisalo said.

    In his reaction to the issue of compensation and resettlement, FCDA’s Director (Engineering), Adamu Abu said the initial agreement between the FCDA and the indigenes was to integrate them and not to pay them compensation in monetary form.

  • Alleged N1.2b subsidy cash diversion: EFCC shuts Obat Oil’s tank farm

    Alleged N1.2b subsidy cash diversion: EFCC shuts Obat Oil’s tank farm

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has shut down a tank farm belonging to Obat Oil and Petroleum Limited at Kirikiri, Lagos, for alleged diversion of subsidy payment.

    Petrocam Trading Nigeria Limited had reported Obat Oil to EFCC for allegedly diverting N1.2 billion, which it secured as loan from Sterling Bank on behalf of Obat Oil under a Joint Venture Transaction Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to finance the importation of 15,000 metric tonnes of petrol for Obat under the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) import permit for Q2, Q3 and Q4 of 2014.

    Rather than pay back the loan, the oil marketer alleged that the money was diverted into the personal account of Obat’s Chairman, Oba Frederick Akinrutan.

    Petrocam said in a document that it jointly signed an agreement with Obat to secure a loan to finance the business, whether by its own resources or through its bank, a condition Obat allegedly agreed to.

    While the marketer advances to finance the business from Sterling Bank Plc, a collection account no. 0020560534 was opened in the name of Obat Oil and Petroleum Limited with the bank to take receivables from the transaction for the purpose of repaying the loans.

    However, it was later discovered that Obat Oil allegedly diverted the N1.2 billion meant for Petrocam to  Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria’s (AMCON) account to clear a debt.

    Managing Director of Petrocam Mr. Patrick Ilo, in a statement dated November 13, 2015, said: “Based on the agreement, Petrocam established six Letters of Credits with our facility at Sterling Bank, bearing the total risk of the transactions. It was further agreed that Petrocam will make an advance payment of the sum liable to Obat up front before subsequent transactions after the first two transactions were concluded, an obligation which Petrocam carried out to the letter by making payments in tranches to Obat account details.

    “But because of the devaluation, the government agreed to pay oil marketers affected the Foreign Exchange differential, as well as the accrued interest. This led us to signing an addendum to the initially executed MoU stating that all accrued interest on these transactions will be paid to the account of Petrocam Trading Nigeria Ltd.”

    Ilo claimed that Obat diverted the funds into a personal account.

    “We were surprised when we found out that Obat Oil & Petroleum Ltd diverted the funds meant to cushion the effect of the accumulated bank interest on these transactions into their personal account with UBA to the tune of N239, 479,947.85, thereby violating the agreement of the signed MoU and the addendum.”

    Meanwhile, in a letter written to Obat Oil by Sterling Bank Plc, signed by its General Manager Corporate, Mr. Adegboyega Adegun and Assistant General Manager, Corporate, Mr. Abiodun Odutola, the bank said: “We write to advise that we are aware that the Sovereign Debt Note serial number FGN/2014/01/Q14/1673 and FGN/2014/01/R14/1694 due on the joint venture transactions between Petrocam Trading Oil Limited and Obat Oil and Petroleum Limited, which were financed by Sterling Bank, are part of the subsidy payment approved and paid by government.

    “As banker of these transactions, we write to demand that all subsidy proceeds accruing to the transaction, including exchange rate differentials and other relevant claims from government must be remitted to Obat Oil and Petroleum Limited account number 0020560534 in Sterling Bank Plc for the purpose of liquidating outstanding loan obligations in line with the terms and conditions of the facility under which the transactions were financed.”

    The Head of Legal/Corporate Affairs, Obat Oil & Petroleum, Mr. Seun Bakare, did not pick his call  for comment on the organisation’s side of the matter.

  • Alleged diversion of proceeds: Govt official, stockbroker disown Suswam

    Two women, who played major roles in the 2014 sale of Benue State’s shares worth about N9billion, have denied knowledge that ex-Governor Gabriel Suswam and his Finance Commissioner, Omodachi Oklobia, had the intention of diverting the proceeds.

    The women, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Benue Investment and Property Company Ltd (BIPCL), Mrs. Brigid Shehu and the Group Managing Director of a Lagos-based stoke-broking firm, Elixir Investment Partners, Mrs. Clara Mshelia-Whyte, admitted participating in the process leading to the sale of the shares, but denied being parties to the alleged diversion of the proceeds by Suswam and Oklobia.

    Suswam and Oklobia are being tried on a nine-count charge of money laundering. They were, among others, accused of diverting N3, 111,008,018.51k (about N3.1billion), which formed part of the N9,411,708,009.51k (about N9.4billion) recovered from the sale of the state’s shares.

    When trial opened on December 8, a prosecution witness, Junaidu Sidu, told the court how Suswam and Oklobia allegedly connived to divert about N3.1 billion from the share sale proceeds, using a bureau de charge operator, Abubakar Umar of Fanffash Resources Ltd, who allegedly converted the money to $15,800,000 (USD), which he purportedly handed to Suswam in cash at his (Suswam’s) home in Maitama, Abuja.

    But, in their statements, which formed part of the bundle of documents filed in court by the prosecuting agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), both women claimed to have acted at the behest of Suswam and Oklobia.

    Mrs. Mshelia-Whyte said in her statement that BIPC Ltd, during Suswam’s administration, engaged her company, Elixir Investment Partners, to raise N10 billion for the government by selling BIPC’s shares in companies, including Dangote Cement.

    She said they raised about N9 billion, which her company was mandated to pay into three accounts.

    “After the mandate to pay, we honoured their (Benue State government’s) request, but one of the requests bounced back. We contacted the managing director, BIPC, who advised us to contact the commissioner, since she said, as a company, they report to the Ministry of Finance and that the error may have come from them.

    “I called the commissioner for Finance to rectify the error and he said he would come back to me. We later got a board resolution signed by the managing director, BIPC, company secretary and the commissioner for Finance, to go ahead with the payment to Fanffash, and, in the resolution, called it their project account.

    “I called the Group Compliance Officer, Rhoda Onojaife, to conduct a KYC (know your customer) on Fanffash so that we could attach and file. We conducted the KYC to ascertain the identity of the beneficiary and know where the business office is situated for future references.

    “We informed the commissioner for Finance of the KYC. Based on the KYC, we found out that the true nature of the beneficiary is BDC (bureau de change). We did not consider that appropriate, which is why we asked the commissioner for Finance and the managing director of BIPC, who insisted that it is a project account as stated by the resolution and that the shares belong to the state and it has a right to use the proceeds as it deems fit,” Mrs. Mshelia-Whyte said.

    Mrs. Shehu, in a letter dated August 14, 2015 to Governor Samuel Ortom, a copy of which The Nation sighted at the weekend, distanced herself from the “deal,” insisting that only Suswam and Oklobia could explain what happened to part of the share sale proceeds paid into Fanffash Resources’ account.

    The trial of Suswam and Oklobia resumes today before Justice Ahmed Mohammed, during which the defence is expected to cross-examine Saidu.

  • Re: Alleged diversion of N1tn

    SIR: Permit me the opportunity to express my thoughts on the recent allegation by the Senate that Ibrahim Lamorde, Chairman of the EFCC, diverted N1tn from seized assets of Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former governor of Bayelsa State and Tafa Balogun, a former Inspector General of Police.

    It is no surprise that this probe is coming at a time when the EFCC is said to have questioned the wife of the Senate President, Toyin Saraki, and has also sought the help of the London Metropolitan Police to widen its investigations on the properties purchased by Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, in the UK.

    Is it not absurd to accuse one man to have stolen ONE TRILLION NAIRA? Please, I beg to question, what assets and monies is George Uboh talking about?

    I remember that in 2009, at Chelsea Hotel, Nigerians applauded Mrs. Farida Waziri, former Chairman of EFCC, when she handed over monies and assets recovered from Alamieyeseigha, to Timipre Sylva, his successor.

    I believe the CEO of any organisation is the Accounting Officer. Therefore, Nuhu Ribadu, being the Chairman at the time assets and monies were recovered from Alamieyeseigha and Tafa Balogun, should be called upon to answer questions. It is unfair to smear the name of Lamorde and the EFCC.

    As some of us have not forgotten, in 2007 Saraki faced investigations by the then Nuhu Ribadu-led EFCC alongside other governors but connived with James Ibori of Delta state to unseat Ribadu, in which they prevailed.

    I am concerned that this may be a scam by Saraki who found an ally in Uboh who purportedly holds a grudge against the Chairman of the EFCC for terminating his contract with the Commission in the Alamieyeseigha loot.

    History will not repeat itself and I urge Lamorde not to succumb to the attempt by Saraki to intimidate him.

    The fight against corruption must continue in earnest.

     

    • Keyu Eni

    Abacha Road, Mararaba

  • Okonjo-Iweala denies diversion of rail loan

    Okonjo-Iweala denies diversion of rail loan

    Former Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has denied recent allegations that a $1 billion China-EximBank loan for the Lagos-Kano rail project was diverted under her watch.

    In a statement made available to the media on Sunday, Okonjo-Iweala noted that, “the alleged project was on the list of China-EximBank funded projects, diversion of any Chinese funds would have been extremely difficult because the terms of the contract and the processes would simply not have permitted such action.”

    The former finance minister noted that the existing procedure for accessing China-Exim Bank loan “is that funds for approved loans remain in the China-EximBank and are released directly to the Chinese firm executing the contract only after the presentation of duly certified proof of work by the responsible Ministry, in this case it would have been the Federal Ministry of Transport, based on the agreed milestones.”

    The China-EximBank she said “does not disburse money directly to government and therefore the issue of diversion does not arise.”

    To corroborate her defence, Okonjo-Iweala called on interested parties and individuals to “cross-check with the China-EximBank or the Chinese Embassy” because according to her, “the alleged diversion has no substance for the simple reason that the Kano-Lagos project was not even among the projects presented for funding by the China Exim Bank for several strategic infrastructural projects across the country.”

    ” It was the Lagos–Ibadan rail project, not Lagos-Kano rail project that was proposed in the original application to the China-EximBank she said ” but in the end, no funds were assigned for the Lagos-Ibadan rail project by the China-EximBank.”

    The projects being funded from facilities obtained from the China-EximBank and which are at various stages of progress and can be confirmed Okonjo-Iwela pointed out are:

    · $500m for the expansion of four International Airport Terminals in Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
    · $500m for the Abuja Light Rail project
    · $984m for the Zungeru Hydro-electric power project
    · $100m for the Galaxy Backbone project

  • Stop diversion of public funds, cleric urges politicians

    Stop diversion of public funds, cleric urges politicians

    Political leaders have been urged to eschew corruption and inordinate diversion of public funds which have stifled the nation’s development.

    The Pastor-in-charge of Province 9 the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Remi Oluboba, stated this at the July meeting of RCCG’s Christ Redeemers Friends International in Lagos.

    Oluboba, who lamented how bitter jostle for power in the country, said Nigeria would be a better place to live if politicians across put the people first and seek power for the purpose of solving national challenges.

    He called on politicians to play by the rule and eschew

    corruption if they ever wanted the nation to grow.

    While speaking on work life balance for executives, the provincial pastor said all men must live by godly principles to ensure they balance the pressure of work and life’s challenges.

    Expatiating on Ecclesiastes 3:1, Oluboba said though life is a bowl of conflicts and stress, the latter occurs when competing forces interfere with what man sets out to do.

    To avoid the stress that attends the conflicts of life and work, all executives must keep track of their time, set prioritize, and always re-evaluate them while always focuing on one thing at a time, he charged.

    “Besides all of these, you must respect your private time, constantly examine your personal habits to remove negative habits, take a holiday, when you take your family out on holiday and set time apart for physical exercises,” he advised.

    CRFI’s President Hon. Kayode Aremo said the association, which was an initiative of the RCCG General Overseer Enoch Adejare Adeboye is targeted at drawing the elites and captains of businesses to Christ.

    He said the group, which has continued to deliver on its mandate, would keep drawing businessmen and women closer to God, using referrals from members who are encouraged to preach Christ while networking with their colleagues and fellow business associates.

  • Ondo TUC warns govt against diversion of fund

    Ondo TUC warns govt against diversion of fund

    The  Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Ondo State   yesterday warned the  government not to divert the money given to it by the Federal Government.

    It urged the government to spend the money on payment of accumulated salaries.

    In a statement by the TUC Chairman, Sola Ekundayo and the Secretary, Fatuase Clement, the Congress said it will not tolerate diversion of such fund for any capital project.

    The statement reads: ”We are not against any capital project but our welfare must first and foremost be taken care of in terms of salaries and allowances.

    “This is what can guarantee industrial peace and harmony in the state.”

    They emphasised that government should spend the bailout to ameliorate the sufferings of  workers to guarantee industrial harmony.

    They urged civil servants to remain steadfast as organised labour unions were monitoring the government’s account to ensure that the money was not diverted.

  • That diversion by LAMATA, CCECC in Ikorodu

    SIR: The extension of the BRT corridor from Mile 12 to Ikorodu by the present administration in Lagos State could not have come at a better time. I am more convinced that the Babatunde Raji Fashola led government in the state is truly planning for the future of Lagos as mega city.

    No one can contradict the fact that the future of Lagos lies not in the fully built-up Ikeja or Victoria Island or Yaba but in the interior and developing localities of Ikorodu, Epe, Badagry and others, and any government that is truly desirous of planning ahead must begin to expand and upgrade infrastructures around these places.

    Words may not be enough to convey our appreciation to the BRF government for this timely intervention in the road infrastructure and transportation system of Ikorodu. This project is truly timely.

    However, while residents of Ikorodu continue to bear the inconveniences that come with a project of such magnitude, it is pertinent to mention that the attitude of the major contractor, CCECC and the supervising agency, LAMATA, is making the whole project look like a waste of time and resources, financial and human.

    The road diversions and closures as well as the deplorable state of usable portion of the stretch are causing serious discomfort and unquantifiable waste of productive time to residents along that axis. On a bad day, people spend six hours driving to and from work on the road, arriving their various places of work already spent resulting in low productivity and dwindling economy on the long run.

    Agreed that the attitude of drivers, commercial and private alike, contribute to the problem we face but it is rather unfortunate that road traffic managers are helpless due to the nature of the diversions, which makes control and enforcement almost impossible!

    I must not fail to commend the efforts of LASTMA officials on this stretch. They are presently working in extreme conditions. Yes they are!

    The most worrying and disturbing part of the closures and diversions is the recent closure of the U-turn by Mallo Filling Station which leads into Fela Ahmed Street, the major entrance into Agric-Ishawo-Owutu. This closure is ill-conceived.

    The closure of this major U-turn can only be seen as a policy somersault on the part of LAMATA as a government agency and the supervising agency for this project.

    It is now a daily occurrence to spend an average of two hours between Ogolonto and the new U-turn some 800metres ahead at Haruna bus stop. It is totally a betrayal of common sense on the part of the initiators.

    God forbid a situation where an emergency occurs around Agric, and one must get to Ogolonto or Haruna bus stops to make a turn before getting to the Ikorodu General Hospital at Ota-ona, the only government hospital in the entire Ikorodu! Definitely, the victim would have reached heaven three times before getting any medical attention.

    The road is being done for the people to enjoy and they truly deserve to enjoy it when it is completed and the money expended will have come to waste if the people suffer for government’s commitment to their cause.

    While the governor and government has demonstrated and fulfilled its electoral promises to make life better for the people, agencies like LAMATA and its contractor, CCECC should not make mockery of government’s sincerity by not listening to the people and sharing their opinion on a facility they will be enjoying, after all, the people cannot not relocate to Beijing or Guangzhou or Shanghai even if their interest are not properly protected in the place of their birth!

     

    • Yomi Ajayi

    Ishawo Road, Agric-Ikorodu.

     

  • ‘Nigeria loses 50% of its fuel to diversion’

    ‘Nigeria loses 50% of its fuel to diversion’

    Despite its dependence on imported fuel to meet local consumption, about 50 percent of Nigeria’s petroleum products are diverted by dishonest marketers and transporters to the neighbouring countries, it was learnt.

    Investigation by The Nation showed that the development had been responsible for the recurring shortage of petroleum products, especially premium motor spirit (petrol) and the resultant scarcity experienced.

    Scarcity of fuel, which lingered for very long time towards the end of last year, particularly in Lagos and Abuja despite the efforts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), led to discovery of how the fuel meant for consumption in-country was diverted to the neighbouring countries.

    A top official of the NNPC said at the peak of the fuel scarcity last year, the corporation was concerned because there was no reason for the scarcity. The official said although it was attributed mainly to the vandalised System 2B pipeline at Arepo axis in the Obafemi/Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, which is a key distribution facility, the corporation knew well it was supposed to have sufficient reserves. It was for this reason that the corporation carried out an internal investigation and found out that the products were diverted.

    The official said the corporation, therefore, adopted a concept tagged ‘tracking.’ The initiative ensured that all petrol imports made were monitored very closely and tracked to the point of consumption, which resulted in amazing revelation that about 50 per cent of the country’s PMS was diverted.

    The official said: “It might amaze you that about 50 percent of our fuel was diverted. You also might have observed that before Christmas and through the festive periods until now, there has not been a report of scarcity. It was no magic and we didn’t increase the volume of the imports we used to make in the past, yet retail outlets have been wet with products. It is the result of the tracking policy that we adopted.

    “In addition, the NNPC is still the sole importer of fuel as marketers have backed out since the beginning of last year. Don’t mind any marketer who tells you that he imports fuel. The truth is that NNPC imports and give them (marketers) to ensure even distribution.

    “Since we introduced the tracking strategy, it has plugged most of the leakages and the corporation sustained its import volume, which has ensured uninterrupted supply of fuel for Nigerians.”

    Oil marketers had, after the aborted downstream sector deregulation in January, last year, which shot pump price of PMS from N65 a litre to N97, stopped further importation on the grounds that the Federal Government owed them over N200billion in arrears of unpaid subsidy refund.

    Although the government has begun to pay the debts gradually, it is done under tight control, which ensures that only genuine marketers are paid claims for refund of subsidy.

    Nigeria depends on imported fuel, which is complemented by unsubstantial percentage, refined in-country by the almost dysfunctional refineries.